Christmas Holiday

Early on Christmas morning, Su Yu opened his eyes to find the dormitory in a complete mess.

Gift boxes were piled all over the floor, silver-green and gold ribbons tangled together like little sleeping snakes. The fire in the fireplace was still burning, its red glow flickering through the dim room.

After finishing everyone's Christmas presents last night, Su Yu had been pulled into bed by Fa-jie, who said this was the real Christmas gift she wanted to give him.

And even now, she was still covered in red marks and hadn't gotten up.

Fa-jie lay beside him, her long black wavy hair spread across the pillow and covering half her face. The blanket only reached her waist, exposing her smooth shoulders and back, all the way down to her waist.

Su Yu turned his head and looked at her.

Then he leaned over and gently kissed her forehead.

"Merry Christmas, my big sister Gemma Farley."

Fa-jie lazily squirmed a little without opening her eyes.

"Merry Christmas, my little grown-up prefect!" Fa-jie's voice was muffled by the pillow. "Go see what presents you got."

Su Yu sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, and looked to the side.

The presents were stacked higher than the Christmas tree.

Large and small boxes were piled together, their colorful wrapping paper gleaming in the morning light. Some were tied with ribbons, some had labels, and some had no wrapping at all. Su Yu counted them and found that most had come from his Slytherin classmates.

Malfoy had sent an exquisite necklace. Its silver chain was thin, and the pendant was a green gemstone that glimmered darkly in the fireplace embers. Pansy had given him a silver goblet, while Crabbe and Goyle had given him something rather... how should he put it? They had given Su Yu a lump of mud. A perfectly flawless lump of mud. It sat in the center of an elegant velvet box, its surface so smooth it reflected light. There was also a note inside, written in crooked handwriting: "This lump of mud will definitely make a loud splat!" Su Yu stared at it for a long time, not knowing what to say. In the end, he placed the box on the bedside table.

Ka-jie had sent him a suit. The fabric was deep black, expertly tailored, with subtle silver patterns embroidered around the collar and cuffs. A card lay in the box, written in Ka-jie's sharp cursive: "Wear this to the next party."

Daphne had given him a tie. It had silver-green stripes and a silky texture. Two letters—Y.S.F.—had been embroidered into the back with tiny stitches. Su Yu ran his fingers over them. They had been hand-stitched. He imagined Daphne sitting in some room at home, head lowered as she carefully embroidered those letters one stitch at a time.

There was no need to mention Fa-jie. She had given him herself. That was pretty impressive. Su Yu glanced at Fa-jie lying beside him. Her eyes were closed, but the corners of her mouth were curled up. He had no idea whether she was pretending to sleep or secretly laughing.

Next was Carson, the butler. He had given Su Yu a new game console. The box was huge and tied with a golden ribbon, with a note attached in neat handwriting that looked printed: "Young Master, I visited many shops and observed that every child wanted a game console of their own, so I assumed Young Master would want one too. However, Young Master should not play too much. Studies must come first, and playtime must not exceed one hour a day."

Su Yu grumbled inwardly, I want to play too, but Hogwarts doesn't even have electricity.

Then there were the gifts from his parents.

His mother had given Su Yu a brooch. The accompanying card read: "This was made from Qiongqi's tooth. It bared its fangs at your mother, so your father knocked out its tooth and made it into a brooch for you. I hope its tooth will ward off evil."

His father had given Su Yu a storage ring from East University. It contained a space that was not particularly large, about two cubic meters, enough to store clothes and other everyday items. The attached card had only one line: "Don't lose it."

Mrs. Weasley had actually sent him a package as well.

The parcel was wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine, with a label that read: "For Su Yu." Su Yu opened it to find a dark green-and-black fitted Weasley sweater. Beside it was a large box of soft candies in all sorts of colors, each wrapped in transparent candy paper.

Mrs. Weasley had also included a note: "I don't know why, but I usually make their soft candies. Yours, however, were made by Ginny. She insisted on practicing, and I don't know whether they taste good. I hope you don't mind."

Kurama had woken up at some point and was crouching by the bed, staring straight at the box of soft candies.

"Give me one," Kurama said.

Su Yu tossed one to her. Kurama held it in her two front paws and nibbled at it in tiny bites, her amber eyes narrowing with pleasure.

Wearing the sweater Mrs. Weasley had knitted and the scarf Daphne had made, Su Yu climbed out of bed, washed up, and changed clothes. Fa-jie finally got up as well, sitting on the bed wrapped in the blanket, her hair a complete mess and sleep-flushed cheeks still pink.

After finishing her candy, Kurama lay on the bed and licked her paws.

When Su Yu arrived at the Slytherin common room, he found everyone gathered together. Each of them held something in their hands—a silver-green Slytherin badge. It was Su Yu's Christmas gift.

Standing before the fireplace, Su Yu explained the gift.

"Every badge contains Kurama's power and mine. To activate it, just tap the badge twice." Su Yu took out a badge from his pocket and tapped it twice. The badge emitted a soft golden glow, and a thin Tailed Beast Cloak appeared around him. Golden chakra danced over the surface of his body like flames, but it was much fainter than the full Tailed Beast Cloak, almost transparent.

"A Tailed Beast Cloak will appear around your body," Su Yu said. "It can defend you and heal you quickly. It also provides abundant magic power, strengthens your attacks, and prevents you from being corrupted by dark magic. After all, when it comes to malice, Kurama is the ancestor of dark magic."

The eyes of several older students lit up.

"With this badge," Su Yu said as he dismissed the Tailed Beast Cloak and put the badge back into his pocket, "you'll be able to cast the Unforgivable Curses without any pressure."

The common room fell silent for a moment. Then came a low murmur of excitement that no one could suppress. The Unforgivable Curses—but now, with this badge, none of that was a problem anymore.

"It's fine if the power inside runs out," Su Yu continued. "Just exchange it for another in the Slytherin common room's storage room. There's a huge pile of them in there. I'll replenish the energy regularly too."

Everyone's gaze turned in unison toward the storage room. The small room that had once been used for old brooms and broken textbooks was now filled with badges. The tiny silver-green objects were neatly stacked on shelves like rows of soldiers awaiting inspection.

Su Yu swept his gaze across the crowd and stopped on Theodore.

Theodore stood at the back of the group, gripping the badge in his hand so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

Su Yu walked over.

"Theodore," Su Yu said, "from now on, this badge will be your greatest source of confidence."

Su Yu patted his shoulder, then turned and led everyone off to the Christmas feast.

In the Great Hall, a hundred plump roast turkeys sat atop the four long tables, their glossy skins gleaming caramel-brown in the candlelight. Their aroma was so rich it seemed capable of drifting all the way to the Forbidden Forest. Mountains of potatoes, platters of little chipolatas, enormous bowls of buttered peas, huge silver boat-shaped dishes of rich gravy and cranberry sauce, and magical crackers piled several feet high crowded the tables so completely that there was barely room for plates.

Su Yu saw Harry pull apart a magical cracker. It went off with a loud bang, and a cloud of blue smoke billowed out like a tiny cloud. Then an admiral's hat burst from within, blue and white with golden tassels embroidered along the brim, along with several lifelike white mice. The mice scurried across the floor for a few steps before turning into ordinary plastic toys.

Headmaster Dumbledore wore a flowered round hat he had traded someone for his pointed wizard's hat. Several brightly colored flowers had been tucked into it, blooming brilliantly in the candlelight. He seemed to be in an excellent mood, raising his glass to clink with every professor at the teachers' table. Professor Flitwick told him a joke, and Dumbledore could not help laughing, his silver beard trembling and the petals on his flowered hat shaking along with his laughter.

Egg Beater had specially made braised pork ribs, big plate chicken, and rice for Su Yu to accommodate his eating habits. Su Yu ate very well. Fa-jie tried a few bites too, and after her eyes lit up, she took another piece.

After the turkey feast came pink Christmas pudding. Blue flames had been poured over it, dancing across its surface for a while before going out and revealing the golden pudding beneath, decorated with candied fruit and nuts. Meanwhile, Hagrid kept drinking baijiu. His face grew redder and redder until he became so drunk that he kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek. To everyone's surprise, Professor McGonagall did not get angry. Instead, she blushed and giggled so hard that her hat slipped sideways.

That afternoon, Su Yu took the little Slytherin wizards skiing.

The slope behind the castle was covered in thick snow. Its incline was just right, neither too long nor too short, and when they slid down, they could feel the wind howling past their ears. The Slytherin students used crude skis. Their shape was not exactly standard, but they worked well enough. Su Yu lay in the snow, covered from head to toe, while Kurama crouched on his chest and patted his face with her paw.

Before long, they started a snowball fight.

Snowballs flew everywhere, and no one could tell who was on whose team.

Fa-jie and Kurama followed Su Yu to build a snowman again. The snowman came out crooked, and Kurama insisted it looked like Su Yu, only for Su Yu to smash a snowball into her face...

They spent a happy afternoon together.

Then, cold, wet, and panting for breath, they returned to the Slytherin common room to warm themselves by the fire.

Su Yu had Egg Beater bring over plenty of grilled meat skewers and assorted vegetable skewers.

Then they started a barbecue party right in the common room.

The lamb skewers sizzled with oil, sprinkled with cumin and chili. They were half lean, half fatty, and one bite made the juices burst across the tongue.

Fa-jie ate several extra skewers. Paired with chilled beer, the food left many of the little Slytherin wizards asleep as soon as they returned to their rooms.

During the rest of the Christmas holiday, Su Yu and Fa-jie's battles every night were especially intense.

So intense that Kurama did not even dare come out to sleep at night. Whenever Su Yu and Fa-jie returned to the dormitory, Kurama hurried back into Su Yu's body to sleep.

This meant that Su Yu and Fa-jie did not get up and go out until every afternoon. Breakfast became lunch, and lunch became afternoon tea.

Theodore had become much more cheerful these past few days. He constantly showed off his badge around Olivia. He pinned it in the most conspicuous spot on his robes. Every time, Olivia quietly listened until he finished, then praised her little Theo for being so amazing.

Until the day before the holiday ended, the students who had gone home all returned to Hogwarts as well.

At dinner that night, Hermione was still telling Su Yu stories about what had happened when she went home. She also said she had bought many new books in Diagon Alley and had finished more than half of them during the holiday. She planned to read the rest slowly after term began.

However, she also mentioned Harry.

"When I came back," Hermione lowered her voice and leaned closer to Su Yu, "I heard Harry got an Invisibility Cloak and hasn't slept in his bed for three days and nights. He's been wandering around the school instead. I think that's terrifying. That isn't something a student should be doing!"

With the start of the new term, everyone became even busier. Hermione was often nowhere to be found, buried in the library, and she was rarely seen at the Gryffindor table. The Slytherin group also trained their spells even more diligently.

The Quidditch players trained like mad, swearing to reclaim the glory that belonged to Slytherin. They got up before dawn every morning and flew lap after lap around the field until Madam Hooch chased them back to breakfast.